Method for modifying target site in double-stranded DNA in cell

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for modifying a targeted site of a double-stranded DNA in a cell, the method including a step of bringing a complex in which a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module that specifically binds to a selected target nucleotide sequence in a double-stranded DNA and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase are linked, and a donor DNA containing an insertion sequence into contact with said double-stranded DNA, to substitute the targeted site with the insertion sequence, or insert the insertion sequence into said targeted site, without cleaving at least one strand of said double-stranded DNA in the targeted site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is the U.S. national phase of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2019/012807, filed Mar. 26, 2019, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-059073, filed on Mar. 26, 2018, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED

Incorporated by reference in its entirety herein is a computer-readable nucleotide/amino acid sequence listing submitted concurrently herewith and identified as follows: 118,987 bytes ASCII (Text) file named “748768SequenceListing.txt,” created Feb. 28, 2020.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for modifying a double-stranded DNA, which enables modification of a targeted site in a particular region of a double-stranded DNA, which a cell has, using homologous recombination, without cleaving double-stranded DNA (with no cleavage or single strand cleavage).

BACKGROUND ART

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein are known to work as a bacterial adaptive immune system by cleaving target DNA in a manner dependent on a single guide RNA (sgRNA) and protospacer adjacent motif (PAM). Cas9 nuclease from Streptococcus pyogenes is widely used as a powerful genome editing tool in eukaryotes having a double-stranded DNA break (DSB) repair pathway (e.g., non-patent documents 1, 2). During the repair of DSB by the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway, a small insertion and/or deletion (indels) are/is introduced into the target DNA, and site-specific mutation or gene destruction occurs. Even though the efficiency depends on the host cell, homologous recombination repair (HDR) can be promoted by providing a donor DNA containing a homology arm to the target region for more accurate editing. However, since the above-mentioned conventional methods involve unexpected genome modifications during cleavage of double-stranded DNA, side effects such as strong cytotoxicity, chromosomal rearrangement and the like occur, and they have common problems of impaired reliability in gene therapy, extremely small number of surviving cells by nucleotide modification, and the like. While homologous recombination using Cas9 nickase (nCas9) has also been reported (non-patent documents 1, 2), the recombination induction efficiency is often very low as compared to that of Cas9 nuclease (non-patent document 3). To the knowledge of the present inventor, homologous recombination using Cas9 in which both nuclease activities are inactivated (dCas9) has not been reported.

Recently, deaminase-mediated target base editing has been demonstrated in which nucleotides are directly edited at the m target gene locus without using donor DNA containing a homology arm for the target region (e.g., patent document 1, non-patent documents 4-6). Since this technique utilizes DNA deamination instead of nuclease-mediated DNA cleavage, cell toxicity is low and pinpoint mutation can be introduced.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: WO 2015/133554

Non-Patent Literature

-   Non-Patent Literature 1: Mali, P. et al., Science 339:823-827 (2013) -   Non-Patent Literature 2: Cong, L. et al., Science 339:819-823 (2013) -   Non-Patent Literature 3: Ran, F. A. et al., Nat Protoc, 8:2281-2308     (2013) -   Non-Patent Literature 4: Komor, A. C. et al., Nature 61:5985-91     (2016) -   Non-Patent Literature 5: Nishida, K. et al., Science 102:553-563     (2016) -   Non-Patent Literature 6: Ma, Y. et al., Nat. Methods 1-9 (2016)     doi:10.1038/nmeth.4027

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, since this technique uses deaminase, there are restrictions on the type of mutation that can be introduced or the site of mutation, and it was not possible to switch the direction and combination of genes or knock-in gene segments. Therefore, the problem of the present invention is the provision of a novel DNA modification technique using a nucleic acid base converting enzyme such as deaminase and the like, or DNA glycosylase, wherein the technique is not limited by the type of mutation that can be introduced or the site of mutation, can switch the direction and combination of genes, and can knock-in gene segments.

Solution to Problem

For dividing cells, a particularly serious mode of DNA damage is a disorder in which both strands of the DNA double strand are cleaved. As a mechanism for repairing this disorder, homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining are known. On the other hand, in the case of damage to one strand of the DNA double strand, it is mainly repaired by base excision repair, which is a mechanism for repairing damage due to alkylation or deamination, or nucleotide excision repair (NER), which is a mechanism for repairing a relatively large-scale damage on some tens of base pairs that distorts the double strand. While the ratio and the like have not been verified, it is also known that repair of the complementary strand is induced even when one of the DNA double strands is damaged.

However, the degree of activity of complementary strand repair to the base excision repair has not been sufficiently verified, and DNA editing by homologous recombination using base excision repair has not been actively performed. To the knowledge of the present inventor, there is no report of such DNA editing. Under such circumstances, the present inventor conceived an idea that complementary strand repair can be induced by causing deamination or base excision of intracellular DNA by using a nucleic acid base converting enzyme, during which the DNA can be recombined using homologous recombination by contacting a donor DNA with the DNA. Based on this idea, the inventor conducted further studies. As a result, the inventor has found that homologous recombination of DNA is possible while suppressing cell toxicity by bringing a complex in which a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme are linked, and a donor DNA containing an insertion sequence into contact with a target DNA, and that, in a preferable embodiment, surprisingly, approximately 100% homologous recombination activity occurs in a targeted site. The present inventor has conducted further studies based on these findings and completed the present invention.

Specifically, the present invention provides the following.

[1] A method for modifying a targeted site of a double-stranded DNA of a cell, comprising a step of bringing a complex in which a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module that specifically binds to a selected target nucleotide sequence in a double-stranded DNA and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase are linked, and a donor DNA containing an insertion sequence into contact with said double-stranded DNA, to substitute the targeted site with the insertion sequence, or to insert the insertion sequence into said targeted site, without cleaving at least one strand of said double-stranded DNA in the targeted site. [2] The method of [1], wherein the donor DNA comprises a sequence homologous to a region adjacent to the targeted site. [3] The method of [1] or [2], wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is selected from the group consisting of a CRISPR-Cas system in which at least one DNA cleavage ability of Cas effector protein is inactivated, a zinc finger motif, a TAL effector and a PPR motif. [4] The method of any of [1] to [3], wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is a CRISPR-Cas system in which only one of the two DNA cleavage abilities of the Cas effector protein is inactivated. [5] The method of any of [1] to [3], wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is a CRISPR-Cas system in which both DNA cleavage abilities of the Cas effector protein are inactivated. [6] The method of any of [1] to [5], wherein the nucleic acid m base converting enzyme is a deaminase. [7] The method of [6], wherein the deaminase is cytidine deaminase. [8] The method of [7], wherein the cytidine deaminase is PmCDA1. [9] The method of any of [1] to [8], wherein the double-stranded DNA is contacted with the complex by introducing a nucleic acid encoding the complex into the cell. [10] The method of any of [1] to [9], wherein the cell is a prokaryotic cell or a eukaryotic cell. [11] The method of [10], wherein the cell is a microbial cell. [12] The method of [10], wherein the cell is a plant cell, an insect cell or an animal cell. [13] The method of [12], wherein the animal cell is a vertebrate cell. [14] The method of [13], wherein the vertebrate cell is a mammalian cell.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, a novel DNA modification technique using a nucleic acid base converting enzyme such as deaminase and the like or DNA glycosylase, wherein the technique is not limited by the type of mutation that can be introduced or the site of mutation, can switch the direction and combination of genes, and can knock-in gene segments is provided. Since the DNA modification technique of the present invention can modify the targeted site without cleaving the double-stranded DNA, unexpected rearrangement and toxicity accompanying the cleavage are suppressed, and the targeted site can be modified much more efficiently compared to the conventional methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing of the mechanism of genome modification by complementary strand modification. Introduction of a complex in which a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase are linked, and a donor DNA for recombination into a cell enables highly efficient knock-in of an insertion sequence.

FIG. 2 shows successful introduction of mutation into a targeted site by using dCas9-CDA or nCas9-CDA, and a donor DNA. vector 1525:pRS415_dCas9-CDA+CAN(mut); vector 1526: pRS415_nCas9-CDA+CAN(mut); vector 1059:pRS426_SNR52-Can7R-sgRNA; vector 1149: pRS426_SNR52-Can10R-sgRNA

FIG. 3 shows a recombination evaluation system using a budding yeast (BY4741 strain) in which a marker switch has been previously introduced between Ade1 and the promoter region of Ade1. When the marker switch is reversed by recombination in the homologous region, the function of Ade1 is restored and the color of the colony changes from red to white.

FIG. 4 shows the results of a demonstration experiment of a recombination reaction using the recombination evaluation system of FIG. 3. Plasmid vector (hereinafter sometimes to be abbreviated as “vector”) 1553: nCas9-CDA_UraAde target 2 (target nucleotide sequence: cctttagcggcttaactgtg (SEQ ID NO: 9)); vector 1557: nCas9-CDA_UraAde target 6 (target nucleotide sequence: ggcccaggtattgttagcgg (SEQ ID NO: 10)), vector 1559: nCas9-CDA_UraAde target 8 (target nucleotide sequence: ttggcggataatgcctttag (SEQ ID NO: 11)); vector 1560: nCas9-CDA_UraAde target 9 (target nucleotide sequence: tgcagttgggttaagaatac (SEQ ID NO: 12)), vector 1562: nCas9-CDA_UraAde target 11 (target nucleotide sequence: gctaacatcaaaaggcctct (SEQ ID NO: 13)); vector 1565: dCas9-CDA_UraAde target 3 (target nucleotide sequence: ttggcggataatgcctttag (SEQ ID NO: 14)). The above-mentioned vectors (1553, 1557, 1559, 1560, 1562, 1565) correspond to vectors in which the nucleotide sequences at the 3890th to the 3909th position in the sequence of vector 1059 (SEQ ID NO: 5) have been substituted with the above-mentioned target nucleotide sequences. The last two digits of the vector number correspond to the numbers of the targeted sites in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a knock-in or knock-out method using the DNA modification method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows the results of a demonstration experiment of knock-in or knock-out using the method of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram and experimental conditions of the evaluation system of recombination performed in Example 5 using animal cells.

FIG. 8 shows the results of a demonstration experiment of a recombination reaction using the recombination evaluation system of FIG. 7. The horizontal axis of the graph shows homologous recombination rate (%).

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram and experimental conditions of the evaluation system of recombination performed in Example 6 using animal cells.

FIG. 10 shows the results of a demonstration experiment of a recombination reaction using the recombination evaluation system of FIG. 9. The vertical axis of the graph shows homologous recombination rate (%).

FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram and experimental conditions of the evaluation system of recombination performed in Example 7 using animal cells.

FIG. 12 shows the results of a demonstration experiment of a recombination reaction using the recombination evaluation system of FIG. 11. The horizontal axis of the graph shows homologous recombination rate (%).

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a method for modifying a targeted site of a double-stranded DNA by substituting the targeted site in the double-stranded DNA with an insertion sequence contained in an exogenous donor DNA, or inserting the insertion sequence into the targeted site, without cleaving at least one of the strands of a double-stranded DNA (e.g., chromosome DNA, mitochondria DNA, chloroplast DNA; hereinafter these are to be also comprehensively referred to as “genomic DNA”) (hereinafter sometimes to be abbreviated as “the method of the present invention”). The method is characterized by a step of bringing a complex of a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module that specifically binds to the target nucleotide sequence in the double-stranded DNA, and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase (hereinafter sometimes to be abbreviated as “nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc.”), and a donor DNA containing an insertion sequence into contact with the double-stranded DNA.

In the present invention, the “modification” of a double-stranded DNA means that a nucleotide (e.g., dA, dC, dG or dT) or a nucleotide sequence on a DNA strand is replaced with another nucleotide or a nucleotide sequence, or that another nucleotide or a nucleotide sequence is inserted between certain nucleotides on a DNA strand. While the double-stranded DNA to be modified is not particularly limited, it is preferably a genomic DNA.

In the present invention, “donor DNA” means a DNA containing an exogenous insertion sequence, and the donor DNA generally contains two kinds of sequences homologous to the sequences (hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as “homology arm”) of the two regions on the upstream side and the downstream side of the targeted site adjacent to the targeted site (hereinafter to be also referred to as “adjacent region”). When respective homology arms are distinguished, they may be referred to as “5′ homology arm” and “3′ homology arm”. The “targeted site” of the double-stranded DNA means a region to be substituted by an insertion sequence contained in the donor DNA, or a region between nucleotides into which the insertion sequence is inserted, and the targeted site does not include the aforementioned adjacent sequence.

The sequence homologous to the region adjacent to the targeted site is not only a completely identical sequence but also a sequence having preferably not less than 80% (e.g., not less than 85%, not less than 90%, not less than 95%, not less than 96%, not less than 97%, not less than 98%, not less than 99%) identity with the completely identical sequence, as long as homologous recombination can occur in a cell.

The insertion sequence may contain, where necessary, a drug resistance gene (e.g., kanamycin resistance gene, ampicillin resistance gene, puromycin resistance gene and the like), a selection marker sequence such as a thymidine kinase gene, a diphtheria toxin gene and the like, a reporter gene sequence such as a green fluorescent protein (GFP), red fluorescent protein, β-glucuronidase (GUS), FLAG, and the like. Moreover, a LoxP sequence, a FRT sequence, or a transposon specific terminal insertion sequence (PiggyBac Terminal Repeat) may be provided before and after the gene so that these genes can be excised after cell sorting or the like is completed. Examples of preferred transposon include piggyBac, which is a transposon derived from the Lepidoptera insect, and the like (Kaji, K. et al., Nature, 458: 771-775 (2009), Woltjen et al., Nature, 458: 766-770 (2009), WO 2010/012077). Alternatively, as described in Oji A et al., Sci Rep, 6: 31666 (2016) and the like, an expression vector containing the above-mentioned drug resistance gene is co-transfected, and transient (about several days) drug selection may be performed. Whether the insertion sequence is inserted into the targeted site or substituted with the targeted site can be confirmed by decoding the sequence and screening for chromosomal DNA separated and extracted from cells by Southern hybridization or PCR method or the like. When the above-mentioned drug resistance gene or the like is present in the donor DNA, confirmation can also be performed using the expression thereof as an index.

The donor DNA may be linear (e.g., synthetic double-stranded DNA), circular (e.g., plasmid DNA), or. single-stranded DNA (e.g., single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide) (ssODN)) or a double-stranded DNA. The donor DNA can be appropriately designed depending on the base length of the insertion sequence, homologous recombination activity of the host cell, and the like. For example, when the insertion sequence is 100 bases in length or shorter, ssODN or synthetic double-stranded DNA is generally used, and when it is longer than that, usually, synthetic double-stranded DNA or plasmid DNA is generally used. Also, the length of the donor DNA is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately designed depending on the length of the insertion sequence and the like. The length of the insertion sequence is not particularly limited, and it can be appropriately designed generally within the range of 1 to tens of thousands of bases (e.g., in the case of ssODN, not more than 100 bases in length (e.g., not more than 70 bases, not more than 50 bases)) according to the purposes. Also, the length of each homology arm is not particularly limited. When the donor DNA is ssODN, one with a length of 10 bases to 150 bases is generally used. When the donor DNA is synthetic double-stranded DNA, one with a length of 10 bases to 5000 bases is generally used, and when the donor DNA is plasmid DNA, one with a length of 100 bases to 5000 bases, preferably 500 bases to 1000 bases, is generally used. These donor DNAs can be designed by referring to known literatures (e.g., Ochiai H, Int J Mol Sci, 16:21128-21137 (2015), Hockemeyer D et al., Nat Biotefchnol, 27:851-857 (2009)).

In the present invention, the “nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module” means a molecule or molecule complex having an ability to specifically recognize and bind to a particular nucleotide sequence (i.e., target nucleotide sequence) on a DNA strand. Binding of the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module to a target nucleotide sequence enables a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. linked to the module to specifically act on a site targeted by a nucleic acid base converting enzyme and the like of a double-stranded DNA (i.e., target nucleotide sequence and nucleotide in the vicinity thereof).

As shown in the below-mentioned Examples, it has been demonstrated that a targeted site can be modified by introducing a complex of a nucleic acid base converting enzyme and a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module, and a donor DNA into a cell. While not wishing to be bound by any theory, the mechanism of targeted site modification by the method is assumed to be as follows. A base present in the site targeted by the nucleic acid base converting enzyme is converted to another base, the converted base is removed by DNA glycosylase, an abasic site (apurinic/apyrimidic (AP) site) resulting from the base excision reaction by the enzyme is treated by an enzyme at the downstream of the base excision repair (BER) pathway such as an AP endonuclease, DNA polymerase, DNA ligase and the like. On the other hand, the presence of abnormal nucleotide or mismatched structure without BER completion also activates the complementary strand repair pathway, causing homologous recombination between the targeted site and the region contained in the donor DNA, whereby the modification of the targeted site has occurred. Therefore, even when DNA glycosylase is used, it is assumed that the same modification occurs by causing base excision at a site targeted by the enzyme. Thus, not only nucleic acid base converting enzyme but also DNA glycosylase can be applied to the method of the present invention.

In the present invention, the “nucleic acid base converting enzyme” means an enzyme capable of converting a target nucleotide to other nucleotide by catalyzing a reaction for converting a substituent on a purine or pyrimidine ring on a DNA base to other group or atom, without cleaving the DNA strand.

In the present invention, “DNA glycosylase” means an enzyme that hydrolyzes N-glycosidic bond of DNA. DNA glycosylase originally plays a role of removing damaged base from DNA in BER. In the present invention, one capable of acting on normal bases in DNA (that is, dC, dT, dA or dG, or those that underwent epigenetic modification) is preferred. A mutated DNA glycosylase that does not originally react with normal base or has low reactivity, but has acquired reactivity with normal base due to mutation or has improved reactivity is also included in the DNA glycosylase of the present invention, and can be preferably used. A site without a base (apurinic/apyrimidic (AP) site) generated as a result of the base excision reaction by the enzyme is treated by an enzyme downstream of the BER pathway such as an AP endonuclease, DNA polymerase, DNA ligase and the like.

In addition, “sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion” means that a base excision reaction occurs in regions where DNA having a double helix structure without distortion is formed, only at a frequency that suppresses cytotoxicity to a level that does not affect cell viability. As used herein, the “DNA having a double helix structure without distortion” means that a strong double helix structure is formed (i.e., unrelaxed double-helical DNA (or to be also simply referred to as unrelaxed DNA)), and not only the state of single-stranded DNA in which the bases forming pairs are completely dissociated, but also the state of relaxed double-stranded DNA in which base pairs are formed but the double helix structure is unwound are not included. Examples of the DNA glycosylase with sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion include a DNA glycosylase inherently having sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion, a mutated DNA glycosylase into which a mutation that lowers reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion as compared to the wild-type has been introduced and the like. Furthermore, a DNA glycosylase divided into two segments which is a split enzyme designed such that each segment is bound to either of two divided nucleic acid sequence recognition modules to form two complexes, the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module can specifically bind to a target nucleotide sequence when the both complexes are refolded, and the DNA glycosylase can catalyze a base excision reaction by the specific binding is also encompassed in the “DNA glycosylase with sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion” of the present invention.

In the present invention, the “nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex” means a molecular complex comprising a complex comprising the above-mentioned nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase are connected, and having a catalyst function of a nucleic acid base conversion reaction or a base excision reaction and imparted with a particular nucleotide sequence recognition ability. The “complex” here encompasses not only one constituted of multiple molecules, but also one having a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. in a single molecule, like a fusion protein.

The nucleic acid base converting enzyme to be used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can catalyze the above-mentioned reaction, and examples thereof include deaminase belonging to the nucleic acid/nucleotide deaminase superfamily, which catalyzes a deamination reaction that converts an amino group to a carbonyl group. Preferable examples thereof include cytidine deaminase capable of converting cytosine or 5-methylcytosine to uracil or thymine, respectively, adenosine deaminase capable of converting adenine to hypoxanthine, guanosine deaminase capable of converting guanine to xanthine and the like. As cytidine deaminase, more preferred is activation-induced cytidine deaminase (hereinafter to be also referred to as AID) which is an enzyme that introduces a mutation into an immunoglobulin gene in the acquired immunity of vertebrata or the like.

While the derivation of nucleic acid base converting enzyme is not particularly limited, for example, PmCDA1 (Petromyzon marinus cytosine deaminase 1) derived from Petromyzon marinus, or AID (Activation-induced cytidine deaminase; AICDA) derived from mammal (e.g., human, swine, bovine, horse, monkey etc.) can be used. For example, GenBank accession Nos. EF094822 and ABO15149 can be referred to for the base sequence and amino acid sequence of cDNA of PmCDA1, GenBank accession No. NM_020661 and NP_065712 can be referred to for the base sequence and amino acid sequence of cDNA of human AID. From the aspect of enzyme activity, PmCDA1 is preferred.

The DNA glycosylase to be used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can catalyze a reaction to hydrolyze the N-glycosidic bond of DNA and eliminate the base. To enhance broad utility as a genome editing technique, preferred are those which can act on normal bases (i.e., dC, dT, dA or dG, or those obtained by epigenetic modification, for example, 5-methylcytosine etc.). Examples of such enzyme include an enzyme having CDG activity that catalyzes a reaction to remove cytosine, an enzyme that has TDG activity that catalyzes a reaction to remove thymine, an enzyme that has an activity to remove 5-methylcytosine (5-mCDG activity) and the like. Specifically, thymine DNA glycosylase, oxoguanine glycosylase, alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (e.g., yeast 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase (MAG1) etc.) and the like can be mentioned. The present inventor previously reported that use of a DNA glycosylase with sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion (unrelaxed DNA) as DNA glycosylase can reduce cytotoxicity and efficiently modify a target sequence (WO 2016/072399). Therefore, as DNA glycosylase, a DNA glycosylase with sufficiently low reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion is preferably used. Examples of such DNA glycosylase include a mutant of UNG having cytosine-DNA glycosylase (CDG) activity and/or thymine-DNA glycosylase (TDG) activity (uracil-DNA glycosylase), and UDG mutant from vaccinia virus, which are described in WO 2016/072399.

Specific examples of the aforementioned mutant of UNG include yeast UNG1 N222D/L304A double mutant, N222D/R308E double mutant, N222D/R308C double mutant, Y164A/L304A double mutant, Y164A/R308E double mutant, Y164A/R308C double mutant, Y164G/L304A double mutant, Y164G/R308E double mutant, Y164G/R308C double mutant, N222D/Y164A/L304A triple mutant, N222D/Y164A/R308E triple mutant, N222D/Y164A/R308C triple mutant, N222D/Y164G/L304A triple mutant, N222D/Y164G/R308E triple mutant, N222D/Y164G/R308C triple mutant and the like. When another UNG is used in place of the yeast UNG1, a mutant in which a similar mutation has been introduced into the amino acid corresponding to each mutant described above may be used. For example, as a mutation of E. coli UNG corresponding to Y164A or Y164G mutation of yeast UNG1, which is a mutation imparting TDG activity, Y66A or Y66G can be mentioned and, as a mutation of human UNG, Y147A or Y147G can be mentioned. As a mutation of Escherichia coli UNG corresponding to N222D mutation of yeast UNG1, which is a mutation imparting CDG activity, N123D can be mentioned and, as a mutation of human UNG, N204D can be mentioned. As a mutation of Escherichia coli UNG corresponding to L304A, R308E or R3080 mutation of yeast UNG1, which decreases reactivity with DNA having a double helix structure without distortion, L191A, R195E or R195C can be mentioned and, as a mutation of human UNG, L272A, R276E or R276C can be mentioned. As UDG mutant from vaccinia virus, N120D mutant (to which CDG activity is imparted), Y70G mutant (to which TDG activity is imparted), Y70A mutant (to which TDG activity is imparted), N120D/Y70G double mutant, N120D/Y70A double mutant and the like can be mentioned. Alternatively, it may be a DNA glycosylase divided into two segments which is a split enzyme designed such that each segment is bound to either of two divided nucleic acid sequence recognition modules to form two complexes, the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module can specifically bind to a target nucleotide sequence when both complexes are refolded, and the DNA glycosylase can catalyze a base excision reaction by the specific binding. The split enzyme can be designed and produced by referring to the descriptions of, for example, WO 2016/072399, Nat Biotechnol. 33(2): 139-142 (2015), PNAS 112(10): 2984-2989 (2015).

While the derivation of UNG is not particularly limited, for example, ung from Escherichia coli (Varshney, U. et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem., 263, 7776-7784), UNG1 or UNG2 derived from yeast, mammal (e.g., human, mouse, swine, bovine, horse, monkey etc.) or the like, or UDG derived from virus (e.g., Poxviridae (vaccinia virus etc.), Herpesviridae and the like) can be used.

A target nucleotide sequence in a double-stranded DNA to be recognized by the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module in the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the module specifically binds to, and may be any sequence in the double-stranded DNA. The length of the target nucleotide sequence only needs to be sufficient for specific binding of the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module. For example, when mutation is introduced into a particular site in the genomic DNA of a mammal, it is not less than 12 nucleotides, preferably not less than 15 nucleotides, more preferably not less than 17 nucleotides, according to the genome size thereof. While the upper limit of the length is not particularly limited, it is preferably not more than 25 nucleotides, more preferably not more than 22 nucleotides. As shown in the Examples below, high modification efficiency was demonstrated in any of the experimental systems in which the target nucleotide sequence is present in the targeted site, a sequence homologous to the homology arm, and a region containing a partial sequence homologous to the homology arm. Therefore, the target nucleotide sequence may be present at the targeted site, may be present in at least a part of the region of a sequence homologous to the homology arm, or may be present in a region near a sequence homologous to the homology arm.

As the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module in the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention, a CRISPR-Cas system wherein at least one DNA cleavage ability of the Cas effector protein (hereinafter to be also referred to as Cas nuclease) is inactivated (hereinafter to be also referred to as “CRISPR-mutant Cas”), zinc finger motif, TAL (transcription activator-like) effector and PPR (pentatricopeptide repeat) motif and the like, as well as a fragment which contains a DNA binding domain of a protein that specifically binds to DNA, such as restriction enzyme, transcription factor, RNA polymerase and the like, and does not have a DNA double strand cleavage ability and the like can be used, but the module is not limited thereto. Preferably, CRISPR-mutant Cas, zinc finger motif, TAL effector, PPR motif and the like can be mentioned. In the present specification, the aforementioned Cas effector protein in which at least one DNA cleavage ability is inactivated is also referred to as Cas effector protein mutant.

A zinc finger motif is constituted by linkage of 3-6 different Cys2His2 type zinc finger units (1 finger recognizes about 3 bases), and can recognize a target nucleotide sequence of 9-18 bases. A zinc finger motif can be produced by a known method such as Modular assembly method (Nat Biotechnol (2002) 20: 135-141), OPEN method (Mol Cell (2008) 31: 294-301), CoDA method (Nat Methods (2011) 8: 67-69), Escherichia coli one-hybrid method (Nat Biotechnol (2008) 26:695-701) and the like. JP-B-4968498 can be referred to as for the detail of the zinc finger motif production.

A TAL effector has a module repeat structure with about 34 amino acids as a unit, and the 12th and 13th amino acid residues (called RVD) of one module determine the binding stability and base specificity. Since each module is highly independent, TAL effector specific to a target nucleotide sequence can be produced by simply connecting the module. For TAL effector, a production method utilizing an open resource (REAL method (Curr Protoc Mol Biol (2012) Chapter 12: Unit 12.15), FLASH method (Nat Biotechnol (2012) 30: 460-465), and Golden Gate method (Nucleic Acids Res (2011) 39: e82) etc.) have been established, and a TAL effector for a target nucleotide sequence can be designed comparatively conveniently. National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2013-513389 can be referred to as for the detail of the production of a TAL effector.

PPR motif is constituted such that a particular nucleotide sequence is recognized by a continuation of PPR motifs each consisting of 35 amino acids and recognizing one nucleic acid base, and recognizes a target base only by 1, 4 and ii(−2) amino acids of each motif. Motif constitution has no dependency, and is free of interference of motifs on both sides. Therefore, like TAL effector, a PPR protein specific to the target nucleotide sequence can be produced by simply connecting PPR motifs. JP-A-2013-128413 can be referred to as for the detail of the production of a PPR motif.

When a fragment of restriction enzyme, transcription factor, RNA polymerase and the like is used, since the DNA binding domains of these proteins are well known, a fragment which contains the domain and does not have a DNA double strand cleavage ability, can be easily designed and constructed.

Any of the above-mentioned nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module can be provided as a fusion protein with the above-mentioned nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc., or a protein binding domain such as SH3 domain, PDZ domain, GK domain, GB domain and the like and a binding partner thereof may be fused with a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc., respectively, and provided as a protein complex via an interaction of the domain and a binding partner thereof. Alternatively, a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. may be each fused with intein, and they can be linked by ligation after protein synthesis.

The nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention containing a complex (including fusion protein) wherein a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme are linked is desirably contacted with a double stranded DNA by introducing a nucleic acid encoding the complex into a cell having the double stranded DNA of interest (e.g., genomic DNA). In the present specification, a nucleic acid encoding a nucleic acid modification enzyme complex includes a base sequence encoding a nucleic acid sequence recognition module, and a base sequence encoding a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase. When the nucleic acid sequence recognition module is CRISPR-Cas system, it further contains a sequence encoding guide RNA.

Therefore, the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and the nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. are preferably prepared as a nucleic acid encoding a fusion protein thereof, or in a form capable of forming a complex in a host cell after translation into a protein by utilizing a binding domain, intein and the like, or as a nucleic acid encoding each of them. The nucleic acid here may be a DNA or an RNA. When it is a DNA, it is preferably a double stranded DNA, and provided in the form of an expression vector disposed under regulation of a functional promoter in a host cell. When it is an RNA, it is preferably a single strand RNA.

Since the complex of the present invention wherein a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. are linked does not accompany double-stranded DNA breaks (DSB), genome editing with low toxicity is possible, and the method of the present invention can be applied to a wide range of biological materials. Therefore, the cells to be introduced with nucleic acid encoding nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can encompass cells of any species, from bacterium of Escherichia coli and the like which are prokaryotes, cells of microorganism such as yeast and the like which are lower eukaryotes, to cells of higher eukaryotes such as vertebrata including mammals such as human and the like, insect, plant and the like.

A DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module such as zinc finger motif, TAL effector, PPR motif and the like can be obtained by any method mentioned above for each module. A DNA encoding a sequence-recognizing module of restriction enzyme, transcription factor, RNA polymerase and the like can be cloned by, for example, synthesizing an oligoDNA primer m covering a region encoding a desired part of the protein (part containing DNA binding domain) based on the cDNA sequence information thereof, and amplifying by the RT-PCR method using, as a template, the total RNA or mRNA fraction prepared from the protein-producing cells.

A DNA encoding a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. (i.e., DNA encoding nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA encoding DNA glycosylase) can also be cloned similarly by synthesizing an oligoDNA primer based on the cDNA sequence information thereof, and amplifying by the RT-PCR method using, as a template, the total RNA or mRNA fraction prepared from the enzyme-producing cells. For example, a DNA encoding PmCDA1 of Petromyzon marinus can be cloned by designing suitable primers for the upstream and downstream of CDS based on the cDNA sequence (accession No. EF094822) registered in the NCBI database, and cloning from mRNA from Petromyzon marinus by the RT-PCR method. A DNA encoding human AID can be cloned by designing suitable primers for the upstream and downstream of CDS based on the cDNA sequence (accession No. AB040431) registered in the NCBI database, and cloning from, for example, mRNA from human lymph node by the RT-PCR method. Also, the donor DNA can be cloned in the same manner as described above based on the sequence information of the targeted site and the like.

The cloned DNA may be directly, or after digestion with a restriction enzyme when desired, or after addition of a suitable linker and/or a nuclear localization signal (each organelle transfer signal when the double-stranded DNA of interest is mitochondria or chloroplast DNA), ligated with a DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module to prepare a DNA encoding a fusion protein. Alternatively, a DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module, and a DNA encoding a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. may be each fused with a DNA encoding a binding domain or a binding partner thereof, or both DNAs may be fused with a DNA encoding a m separation intein, whereby the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing conversion module and the nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. are translated in a host cell to form a complex. In these cases, a linker and/or a nuclear localization signal can be linked to a suitable position of one of or both DNAs when desired. The donor DNA may be prepared as a single DNA, or may be provided as a single DNA with a nucleic acid encoding a nucleic acid sequence recognition module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme and the like.

A DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module, a DNA encoding nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc., and a donor DNA can be obtained by chemically synthesizing the DNA strand, or by connecting synthesized partly overlapping oligoDNA short strands by utilizing the PCR method and the Gibson Assembly method to construct a DNA encoding the full length thereof. When the donor DNA is a single-stranded nucleic acid, as a method other than chemically synthesizing a DNA strand, for example, a plasmid DNA containing the DNA is digested with a restriction enzyme into a single strand, RNA is synthesized by RNA polymerase, after which cDNA is synthesized with reverse transcriptase and the RNA strand is differentiated with RNaseH. Alternatively, it can be prepared by digesting a plasmid containing a donor DNA with a nickase-type restriction enzyme, and separating and purifying same by electrophoresis. The advantage of constructing a full-length DNA by chemical synthesis or a combination of PCR method or Gibson Assembly method is that the codon to be used can be designed in CDS full-length according to the host into which the DNA is introduced. In the expression of a heterologous DNA, the protein expression level is expected to increase by converting the DNA sequence thereof to a codon highly frequently used in the host organism. As the data of codon use frequency in host to be used, for example, the genetic code use frequency database disclosed in the home page of Kazusa DNA Research Institute (www.kazusa.or.jp/codon/index.html) can be used, or documents showing the codon use frequency in each host may be referred to. By reference to the obtained data and the DNA sequence to be introduced, codons showing low use frequency in the host from among those used for the DNA sequence may be converted to a codon coding the same amino acid and showing high use frequency.

When a site other than the target nucleotide sequence and the PAM sequence is used as the targeted site, these sequences may remain even after modification, and a nucleic acid base conversion reaction or a base excision reaction may occur due to a nucleic acid modifying enzyme and the like. Therefore, it is preferable to design the donor DNA such that these sequences would be removed, or introduce a silent mutation into the target nucleotide sequence or the PAM sequence on the homology arm.

An expression vector containing a DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be produced, for example, by linking the DNA to the downstream of a promoter in a suitable expression vector.

As the expression vector, plasmids from Escherichia coli (e.g., pBR322, pBR325, pUC12, pUC13); plasmids from Bacillus subtilis (e.g., pUB110, pTP5, pC194); plasmids from yeast (e.g., pSH19, pSH15); insect cell expression plasmids (e.g., pFast-Bac); animal cell expression plasmids (e.g., pA1-11, pXT1, pRc/CMV, pRc/RSV, pcDNAI/Neo); bacteriophages such as λphage and the like; insect virus vectors such as baculovirus and the like (e.g., BmNPV, AcNPV); animal virus vectors such as retrovirus, vaccinia virus, adenovirus and the like, and the like are used.

As the promoter, any promoter appropriate for a host used for gene expression can be used. In a conventional method involving DSB, since the survival rate of the host cell sometimes decreases markedly due to the toxicity, it is desirable to increase the number of cells by the start of the induction by using an inductive promoter. However, since sufficient cell proliferation can also be achieved by expressing the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention, a constitutive promoter can also be used without limitation.

For example, when the host is an animal cell, SRα promoter, SV40 promoter, LTR promoter, CMV (cytomegalovirus) promoter, RSV (Rous sarcoma virus) promoter, MoMuLV (Moloney mouse leukemia virus) LTR, HSV-TK (simple herpes virus thymidine kinase) promoter and the like are used. Of these, CMV promoter, SRα promoter and the like are preferable.

When the host is Escherichia coli, trp promoter, lac promoter, recA promoter, λP_(L) promoter, lpp promoter, T7 promoter and the like are preferable.

When the host is genus Bacillus, SPO1 promoter, SPO2 promoter, penP promoter and the like are preferable.

When the host is a yeast, the Gal1/10 promoter, PHO5 promoter, PGK promoter, GAP promoter, ADH promoter and the like are preferable.

When the host is an insect cell, a polyhedrin promoter, P10 promoter and the like are preferable.

When the host is a plant cell, CaMV35S promoter, CaMV19S promoter, NOS promoter and the like are preferable.

As the expression vector, besides those mentioned above, one containing an enhancer, a splicing signal, a terminator, a polyA addition signal, a selection marker such as drug resistance gene, an auxotrophic complementary gene and the like, a replication origin and the like on demand can be used.

An RNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be prepared by, for example, transcription to mRNA in an in vitro transcription system known per se by using a vector encoding DNA encoding the above-mentioned nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. as a template.

A complex of a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be intracellularly expressed by introducing an expression vector containing a DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. into a host cell, and culturing the host cell.

As the host, genus Escherichia, genus Bacillus, yeast, insect cell, insect, animal cell and the like are used.

As the genus Escherichia, Escherichia coli K12●DH1 [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 60, 160 (1968)], Escherichia coli JM103 [Nucleic Acids Research, 9, 309 (1981)], Escherichia coli JA221 [Journal of Molecular Biology, 120, 517 (1978)], Escherichia coli HB101 [Journal of Molecular Biology, 41, 459 (1969)], Escherichia coli C600 [Genetics, 39, 440 (1954)] and the like are used.

As the genus Bacillus, Bacillus subtilis MI114 [Gene, 24, 255 (1983)], Bacillus subtilis 207-21 [Journal of Biochemistry, 95, 87 (1984)] and the like are used.

As the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae AH22, AH22R⁻, NA87-11A, DKD-5D, 20B-12, Schizosaccharomyces pombe NCYC1913, NCYC2036, Pichia pastoris KM71 and the like are used.

As the insect cell, when the virus is AcNPV, cells of established line from cabbage armyworm larva (Spodoptera frugiperda cell; Sf cell), MG1 cells from the mid-intestine of Trichoplusia ni, High Five™ cells from an egg of Trichoplusia ni, cells from Mamestra brassicae, cells from Estigmena acrea and the like are used. When the virus is BmNPV, cells of established line from Bombyx mori (Bombyx mori N cell; BmN cell) and the like are used as insect cells. As the Sf cell, for example, Sf9 cell (ATCC CRL1711), Sf21 cell [all above, In Vivo, 13, 213-217 (1977)] and the like are used.

As the insect, for example, larva of Bombyx mori, Drosophila, cricket and the like are used [Nature, 315, 592 (1985)].

As the animal cell, cell lines such as monkey COS-7 cell, monkey Vero cell, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell, dhfr gene-deficient CHO cell, mouse L cell, mouse AtT-20 cell, mouse myeloma cell, rat GH3 cell, cell from human fetal kidney (e.g., HEK293 cell), cell from human liver cancer (e.g., HepG2), human FL cell and the like, pluripotent stem cells such as iPS cell, ES cell and the like of human and other mammals, and primary cultured cells prepared from various tissues are used. Furthermore, zebrafish embryo, Xenopus oocyte and the like can also be used.

As the plant cell, suspended cultured cells, callus, protoplast, leaf segment, root segment and the like prepared from various plants (e.g., grain such as rice, wheat, corn and the like, product crops such as tomato, cucumber, egg plant and the like, garden plants such as carnation, Eustoma russellianum and the like, experiment plants such as tobacco, Arabidopsis thaliana and the like, and the like) are used.

An expression vector can be introduced by a known method (e.g., lysozyme method, competent method, PEG method, CaCl₂ coprecipitation method, electroporation method, the microinjection method, the particle gun method, lipofection method, Agrobacterium method and the like) according to the kind of the host. Donor DNA can also be introduced into cells by a similar method. When introducing the expression vector and the donor DNA as different molecules, the introduction of the expression vector and the donor DNA may be performed simultaneously or at different timings.

Escherichia coli can be transformed according to the methods described in, for example, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 69, 2110 (1972), Gene, 17, 107 (1982) and the like.

The genus Bacillus can be introduced into a vector according to the methods described in, for example, Molecular & General Genetics, 168, 111 (1979) and the like.

A yeast can be introduced into a vector according to the methods described in, for example, Methods in Enzymology, 194, 182-187 (1991), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 75, 1929 (1978) and the like.

An insect cell and an insect can be introduced into a vector according to the methods described in, for example, Bio/Technology, 6, 47-55 (1988) and the like.

An animal cell can be introduced into a vector according to the methods described in, for example, Cell Engineering additional volume 8, New Cell Engineering Experiment Protocol, 263-267 (1995) (published by Shujunsha), and Virology, 52, 456 (1973).

A cell introduced with a vector and a donor DNA can be cultured according to a known method according to the kind of the host.

For example, when Escherichia coli or genus Bacillus is cultured, a liquid medium is a preferable medium to be used for the culture. The medium preferably contains a carbon source, a nitrogen source, an inorganic substance and the like necessary for the growth of a transformant. Examples of the carbon source include glucose, dextrin, soluble starch, sucrose and the like; examples of the nitrogen source include inorganic or organic substances such as ammonium salts, nitrate salts, corn steep liquor, peptone, casein, meat extract, soybean cake, potato extract and the like; and examples of the inorganic substance include calcium chloride, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, magnesium chloride and the like. The medium may contain yeast extract, vitamins, growth promoting factor and the like. The pH of the medium is preferably about 5 to about 8.

As a medium for culturing Escherichia coli, for example, M9 medium containing glucose, casamino acid [Journal of Experiments in Molecular Genetics, 431-433, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York 1972] is preferable. Where necessary, for example, agents such as 3β-indolylacrylic acid may be added to the medium to ensure an efficient function of a promoter. Escherichia coli is cultured at generally about 15 to about 43° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

The genus Bacillus is cultured at generally about 30 to about 40° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

Examples of the medium for culturing yeast include Burkholder minimum medium [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 77, 4505 (1980)], SD medium containing 0.5% casamino acid [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 81, 5330 (1984)] and the like. The pH of the medium is preferably about 5 to about 8. The culture is performed at generally about 20° C. to about 35° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

As a medium for culturing insect cells or insects, for example, Grace's Insect Medium [Nature, 195, 788 (1962)] containing an additive such as inactivated 10% bovine serum and the like as appropriate and the like are used. The pH of the medium is preferably about 6.2 to about 6.4. The culture is performed at generally about 27° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

As a medium for culturing animal cells, for example, minimum essential medium (MEM) containing about 5 to about 20% of fetal bovine serum [Science, 122, 501 (1952)], Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM) [Virology, 8, 396 (1959)], RPMI 1640 medium [The Journal of the American Medical Association, 199, 519 (1967)], 199 medium [Proceeding of the Society for the Biological Medicine, 73, 1 (1950)] and the like are used. The pH of the medium is preferably about 6 to about 8. The culture is performed at generally about 30° C. to about 40° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

As a medium for culturing plant cells, for example, MS medium, LS medium, B5 medium and the like are used. The pH of the medium is preferably about 5 to about 8. The culture is performed at generally about 20° C. to about 30° C. Where necessary, aeration and stirring may be performed.

As mentioned above, a complex of a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc., i.e., nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex, can be expressed intracellularly.

An RNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be introduced into a host cell by microinjection method, lipofection method and the like. RNA introduction can be performed once or repeated multiple times (e.g., 2 to 5 times) at suitable intervals.

As for zinc finger motifs, production of many actually functionable zinc finger motifs is not easy, since production efficiency of a zinc finger that specifically binds to a target nucleotide sequence is not high and selection of a zinc finger having high binding specificity is complicated. While TAL effectors and PPR motifs have a high degree of freedom of target nucleic acid sequence recognition as compared to zinc finger motifs, a problem remains in the efficiency since a large protein needs to be designed and constructed every time according to the target nucleotide sequence.

In contrast, since the CRISPR-Cas system recognizes the double-stranded DNA sequence of interest with a guide RNA complementary to the target nucleotide sequence, any sequence can be targeted by simply synthesizing an oligoDNA capable of specifically hybridizing with the target nucleotide sequence.

Therefore, in a more preferable embodiment of the present invention, a CRISPR-Cas system wherein DNA cleavage ability of only one or both of the Cas effector proteins is inactivated (CRISPR-mutant Cas) is used as a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module.

The nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module of the present invention using CRISPR-mutant Cas is provided as a complex of a CRISPR-RNA (crRNA) containing a sequence complementary to the target nucleotide sequence and, where necessary, trans-activating RNA (tracrRNA) necessary for recruiting mutant Cas effector protein (when tracrRNA is necessary, possibly provided as chimeric RNA with crRNA) and mutant Cas effector protein. An RNA molecule consisting of crRNA alone or a chimeric RNA of crRNA and tracrRNA that constitutes a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module in combination with a mutant Cas effector protein is collectively referred to as a “guide RNA”. The same also applies when a CRISPR/Cas system without introduction of mutation is used.

While the Cas effector protein to be used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can form a complex with guide RNA and recognize and bind to the target nucleotide sequence in the gene of interest and a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) adjacent thereto, it is preferably Cas9 (also referred to as Cas9 nuclease) or Cpf1 (also referred to as Cpf1 nuclease). Examples of Cas9 include, but are not limited to, Cas9 derived from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9; PAM sequence NGG (N is A, G, T or C, hereinafter the same)), Cas9 derived from Streptococcus thermophilus (StCas9; PAM sequence NNAGAAW), Cas9 derived from Neisseria meningitidis (MmCas9; PAM sequence NNNNGATT) and the like. Preferred is SpCas9 with less restriction by PAM (substantially 2 bases, and can target theoretically any site in the genome). Examples of the Cpf1 include, but are not limited to, Cpf1 derived from Francisella novicida (FnCpf1; PAM sequence NTT), Cpf1 derived from Acidaminococcus sp. (AsCpf1; PAM sequence NTTT), Cpf1 derived from Lachnospiraceae bacterium (LbCpf1; PAM sequence NTTT) and the like. As a mutant Cas effector protein (sometimes to be abbreviated as mutant Cas) to be used in the present invention, any of Cas effector protein wherein the cleavage ability of the both strands of the double-stranded DNA is inactivated and one having nickase activity wherein at least one cleavage ability of one strand alone is inactivated can be used. For example, in the case of SpCas9, a D10A mutant in which the 10th Asp residue is converted to an Ala residue and lacking cleavage ability of a strand opposite to the strand forming a complementary strand with a guide RNA (thus having nickase activity for a strand forming complementary strand with guide RNA), or H840A mutant in which the 840th His residue is converted to an Ala residue and lacking cleavage ability of a strand forming a complementary strand to guide RNA (thus having nickase activity for a strand forming complementary strand with guide RNA, or a double mutant thereof (dCas9) can be used. In the case of FnCpf1, a mutant in which the 917th Asp residue is converted to an Ala residue (D917A) or the 1006th Glu residue is converted to an Ala residue (E1006A), and lacking cleavage ability of both strands can be used. As long as at least one of the strands of double-stranded DNA lacks cleavage ability, other mutant Cas can also be used similarly.

A DNA encoding Cas effector protein (including mutant Cas, hereinafter the same) can be cloned by a method similar to the above-mentioned method for a DNA encoding a base excision repair inhibitor, from a cell producing the enzyme. A mutant Cas can be obtained by introducing a mutation to convert an amino acid residue of the site important for the DNA cleavage activity (e.g., 10th Asp residue and 840th His residue for SpCas9, 917th Asp residue and 1006th Glu residue for FnCpf1 and the like, though not limited thereto) to other amino acids, into a DNA encoding cloned Cas, by a site specific mutation induction method known per se.

Alternatively, a DNA encoding Cas effector protein can also be constructed as a DNA with codon usage suitable for expression in a host cell to be used, by a method similar to those mentioned above for a DNA encoding a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module and a DNA encoding a nucleic acid base converting enzyme, and in a combination of chemical synthesis or PCR method or Gibson Assembly method.

The obtained DNA encoding a Cas effector protein and/or nucleic acid modification enzyme and/or base excision repair inhibitor can be inserted into the downstream of a promoter of an expression vector similar to the one mentioned above, according to the target cell.

On the other hand, a DNA encoding guide RNA can be obtained by designing an oligoDNA sequence linking a coding sequence of crRNA sequence containing a nucleotide sequence complementary to the target nucleotide sequence (to be also referred to as “targeting sequence” in the present specification) (e.g., when FnCpf1 is recruited as Cas effector protein, crRNA containing SEQ ID NO: 1; AAUUUCUACUGUUGUAGAU at the 5′-side of the targeting sequence can be used, and the underlined sequences form base pairs to form a stem-loop structure), or a crRNA coding sequence and, where necessary, a known tracrRNA coding sequence (e.g., as tracrRNA coding sequence when Cas is recruited as Cas9 effector protein, gttttagagctagaaatagcaagttaaaataaggctagtccgttatcaacttgaaaaagtggc accgagtcggtgcttttttt; SEQ ID NO: 2, or gttttagagctagaaatagcaagttaaaataaggctagtccgttatcaacttgaaaaagtggc accgagtcggtggtgctttt; SEQ ID NO: 3) and chemically synthesizing using a DNA/RNA synthesizer.

The “targeted strand” here means a strand forming a hybrid with crRNA of the target nucleotide sequence, and the opposite strand, which becomes single-stranded after hybridization of the targeted strand and crRNA, is referred to as a “non-targeted strand”. When the target nucleotide sequence is to be expressed by one of the strands (e.g., when PAM sequence is indicated, when positional relationship of target nucleotide sequence and PAM is shown etc.), it is represented by a sequence of the non-targeted strand.

While the length of the targeting sequence is not particularly limited as long as it can specifically bind to a target nucleotide sequence, for example, it is 15-30 nucleotides, preferably 18-25 nucleotides.

When Cas9 is used as a Cas effector protein, a targeting sequence can be designed, for example, using a guide RNA design website open to public (CRISPR Design Tool, CRISPRdirect etc.) by listing up 20 mer sequences having PAM (e.g., NGG in the case of SpCas9) adjacent to the 3′-side from the CDS sequences of the gene of interest, and selecting a sequence that causes an amino acid change in the protein encoded by the target gene when C within 7 nucleotides from the 5′ end thereof toward 3′ direction is converted to T. An appropriate sequence can be selected even when a targeting sequence with a length other than 20 mer is used. A candidate sequence having a small number of off-target sites in the host genome of interest can be used as a targeting sequence. When the guide RNA design software to be used does not have a function to search off-target sites in the genome of the host, for example, off-target sites can be searched by applying a Blast search against the genome of the host, for example, 8-12 nucleotides on the 3′-side of the candidate sequence (seed sequence with high discrimination ability of target nucleotide sequence).

While a DNA encoding guide RNA can also be inserted into an expression vector similar to the one mentioned above. As the promoter, pol III system promoter (e.g., SNR6, SNR52, SCR1, RPR1, U3, U6, H1 promoter etc.) and terminator (e.g., polyT m sequence (T₆ sequence etc.)) are preferably used.

A DNA encoding guide RNA (crRNA or crRNA-tracrRNA chimera) can be obtained by designing an oligoRNA sequence linking a sequence complementary to the target strand of the target nucleotide sequence and a known tracrRNA sequence (when Cas9 is recruited) or a direct repeat sequence of crRNA (when Cpf1 is recruited) and chemically synthesizing using a DNA/RNA synthesizer.

A DNA or RNA encoding mutant Cas and/or a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc., guide RNA-tracrRNA or a DNA encoding same can be introduced into a host cell by a method similar to the above, according to the host.

Since conventional artificial nuclease accompanies double-stranded DNA breaks (DSB), inhibition of growth and cell death assumedly caused by disordered cleavage of chromosome (off-target cleavage) occurred by targeting a sequence in the genome. In the present invention, the targeted site is modified not by DNA cleavage but by utilizing a conversion reaction of the substituent on the DNA base (particularly deamination reaction), or a base excision reaction, and a repair mechanism thereafter. Therefore, drastic reduction of toxicity can be realized.

In the method of the present invention, it is also possible to modify the targeted site by using multiple target nucleotide sequences at different positions. Therefore, in one preferable embodiment of the present invention, two or more kinds of nucleic acid sequence-recognizing modules that specifically bind to different target nucleotide sequences can be used. In this case, each one of these nucleic acid sequence-recognizing modules and nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. form a nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex. Here, a common nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be used. For example, when CRISPR-Cas system is used as a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module, a common complex (including fusion protein) of a Cas effector protein and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. is used, and two or more kinds of chimeric RNAs of two or more tracrRNA or each of two or more crRNAs that respectively form a complementary strand with a different target nucleotide sequence are produced and used as guide RNA (crRNA or crRNA-tracrRNA chimera). On the other hand, when zinc finger motif, TAL effector and the like are used as nucleic acid sequence-recognizing modules, for example, a nucleic acid base converting enzyme etc. can be fused with a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module that specifically binds to a different target nucleotide.

To express the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention in a host cell, as mentioned above, an expression vector containing a DNA encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex is introduced into a host cell. For efficient introduction of mutation, it is desirable to maintain an expression of nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of a given level or above for not less than a given period. From such viewpoint, it is certain that the expression vector is incorporated into the host genome. Since continuous expression of the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex increases the risk of off-target cleavage, it is preferably removed immediately after achieving modification of the targeted site. Examples of the means for removing DNA incorporated into the host genome include a method using a Cre-loxP system or FLP-FRT system, a method using transposon and the like.

Alternatively, editing of host genome can be efficiently realized while avoiding the risk of off-target cleavage by causing a nucleic acid reaction in a desired stage, and transiently expressing the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention in a host cell for a period necessary for stabilizing the modification of the targeted site. Those of ordinary skill in the art can appropriately determine a preferable expression induction period based on the culture conditions and the like to be used. The expression induction period of a nucleic acid encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention may be extended beyond the above-mentioned “period necessary for stabilizing the modification of the targeted site” as long as the host cell is free of side effects.

As a means for transiently expressing the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention at a desired stage for a desired period, a method including producing a construct (expression vector) containing a nucleic acid (a DNA encoding a guide RNA and a DNA encoding a Cas effector protein and nucleic acid modifying enzyme etc. in the mutant CRISPR-Cas system) encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex, in a form capable of controlling the expression period, introducing the construct into a host can be mentioned. The “form capable of controlling the expression period” is specifically, for example, a nucleic acid encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention placed under regulation of an inducible regulatory region. While the “inducible regulatory region” is not particularly limited, it is, for example, an operon of a temperature sensitive (ts) mutation repressor and an operator regulated thereby. Examples of the ts mutation repressor include, but are not limited to, ts mutation of cI repressor from λphage. In the case of λphage cI repressor (ts), it is linked to an operator to suppress expression of gene in the downstream at not more than 30° C. (e.g., 28° C.). At a high temperature of not less than 37° C. (e.g., 42° C.), it is dissociated from the operator to allow for induction of gene expression. Therefore, the period when the expression of the target gene is suppressed can be minimized by culturing a host cell introduced with a nucleic acid encoding nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex generally at not more than 30° C., raising the temperature to not less than 37° C. at an appropriate stage, performing culture for a given period to carry out homologous recombination and, after introduction of mutation into the target gene, rapidly lowering the temperature to not more than 30° C. Thus, even when an essential gene for the host cell is targeted, it can be efficiently edited while suppressing the side effects.

When temperature sensitive mutation is utilized, for example, a temperature sensitive mutant of a protein necessary for autonomous replication of a vector is included in a vector containing a DNA encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention. As a result, autonomous replication becomes impossible rapidly after expression of the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex, and the vector naturally falls off during the cell division. Examples of the temperature sensitive mutant protein include, but are not limited to, a temperature sensitive mutant of Rep101 ori necessary for the replication of pSC101 ori. Rep101 ori (ts) acts on pSC101 ori to enable autonomous replication of plasmid at not more than 30° C. (e.g., 28° C.), but loses function at not less than 37° C. (e.g., 42° C.), and plasmid cannot replicate autonomously. Therefore, a combined use with cI repressor (ts) of the above-mentioned λphage simultaneously enables transient expression of the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention, and removal of the plasmid.

In addition, a DNA encoding the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex of the present invention is introduced into a host cell under regulation of inducible promoter (e.g., lac promoter (induced by IPTG), cspA promoter (induced by cold shock), araBAD promoter (induced by arabinose) etc.), the inducing substance is added to the medium (or removed from the medium) at an appropriate stage to induce expression of the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex, culture is performed for a given period to carry out a nucleic acid modification reaction and, introduction of mutation into the target gene, transient expression of the nucleic acid-modifying enzyme complex can be realized.

The present invention is explained in the following by referring to Examples, which are not to be construed as limitative.

EXAMPLE

<Cell Line, Culture, Transformation, and Expression Induction of Budding Yeast>

Budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4741 strain (requiring leucine and uracil) was cultured in a standard YPDA medium or SD medium with a Dropout composition meeting the auxotrophicity. The culture was performed in static culture on an agar plate or in agitating culture in a liquid medium between 25° C. and 30° C. Transformation was performed by a lithium acetate method, and selection was made in SD medium showing appropriate auxotrophicity. For expression induction by galactose, after preculture overnight in an appropriate SD medium, culture in SR medium overnight with carbon source changed from 2% glucose to 2% raffinose, and further culture in SGal medium for 3 hr to about two nights with carbon source changed to 0.2% galactose were conducted for expression induction.

For the measurement of the number of surviving cells and Can1 mutation rate, a cell suspension was appropriately diluted, and applied to SD plate medium and SD-Arg+60 mg/l Canavanine plate medium or SD+300 mg/l Canavanine plate medium, and the number of colonies that emerge 3 days later was counted as the number of surviving cells. Using the number of surviving colonies in SD plate as the total number of cells, and the number of surviving colonies on Canavanine plate as the number of resistant mutant strains, the mutation rate was calculated and evaluated. The site of mutation was identified by amplifying DNA fragments containing the target gene region of each strain by a colony PCR method, followed by DNA sequencing and an alignment analysis based on the sequence of Saccharomyces Genome Database (www.yeastgenome.org/).

<Cell Line, Culture, Expression Induction of Animal Cell>

Cells from human fetal kidney (HEK293T cells) were cultured in a DME-glutamax medium (Thermo Fisher Scientific) added with 10 μg/mL puromycin (Life Technologies) and 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Biosera, Nuaille, France) under 37° C., 5% CO₂ conditions. The cells were recovered using 5% trypsin. HEK293T cells preserved in a deep freezer were dissolved in a water bath at 37° C. and seeded in a 75 T-flask at 5×10⁶ cells. After culturing for 1-3 days, the cells were recovered and seeded in each well of a 24 well plate at 0.5×10⁵ cells/well. After culturing for 1-3 days, 60-80% confluent cells in each well were transfected with each 500 ng/well of the following plasmid (effector plasmid and reporter plasmid) (total 1 μg/well), 200 nM donor DNA, 1.5 μl FugeneHD (Promega). The donor DNA used in each Example is shown in Table 1. After transfection for 72 hr, the cells were recovered, and the fluorescence of iRFP and EGFP was detected using FACS. The recombinant efficiency (%) was calculated from the number of detected cells by the following formula.

TABLE 1 SEQ name in name in name in ID Example Example Example oligo sequence (5′-3′) NO: 5 6 7 Fw1 (70 gcgCTACCGGACTCAGATCTACCggcccagttggaatgtaggTGGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGGaGCTG 32 Fw1 b) TTCAC Fw2 (70 gcgCTACCGGACTCAGATCTACCggcccagttggaatgtagaTGGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGGaGCTG 33 Fw2 b) TTCAC Fw3 (70 gcgCTACCGGACTCAGATCTACgggcccagttggaatgtagaTGGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGGaGCTG 34 Fw3 Fw1 b) TTCAC Rv1 (70 GTGAACAGCtCCTCGCCCTTGCTCACCAcctacattccaactgggccGGTAGATCTGAGTCCGGT 35 b) AGcgc Rv2 (70 GTGAACAGCtCCTCGCCCTTGCTCACCAtctacattccaactgggccGGTAGATCTGAGTCCGGT 36 b) AGcgc Rv3 (70 GTGAACAGCtCCTCGCCCTTGCTCACCAtctacattccaactgggcccGTAGATCTGAGTCCGGT 37 b) AGcgc Fw70b CCGTCAGATCCGCTAGCGCTACCGGACTCAGATCTACCggcccagttggaatgtagaTGGTGAGC 38 Fw2 shifted AAGGG to left 15b Fw70b GATCTACCggcccagttggaatgtagaTGGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGGaGCTGTTCACCGGGGTGGTG 39 Fw3 shifted CCCAT to right 15b Fw50b ACTCAGATCTACCggcccagttggaatgtagaTGGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGG 40 Fw Fw4 center Rv50b CCTCGCCCTTGCTCACCAtctacattccaactgggccGGTAGATCTGAGT 41 Rv center

$\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} {homologous} \\ {recombination} \end{matrix} \\ {{rate}\mspace{14mu}(\%)} \end{matrix} = {\frac{\begin{matrix} {{iRFP}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}{GFP}\mspace{14mu}{double}\mspace{14mu}{positive}} \\ {{cell}\mspace{14mu}{number}} \end{matrix}}{{iRFP}\mspace{14mu}{positive}\mspace{14mu}{cell}\mspace{14mu}{number}} \times 100}$ <Nucleic Acid Manipulation>

DNA was processed or constructed by any of PCR method, restriction enzyme treatment, ligation, Gibson Assembly method, and artificial chemical synthesis. For plasmid, as a yeast-Escherichia coli shuttle vector, pRS415 for leucine selection and pRS426 for uracil selection were used as the backbone. Plasmid was amplified by Escherichia coli line XL-10 gold or DH5α, and introduced into yeast by the lithium acetate method.

<Construction of Budding Yeast Construct>

Sequences of homology arm, guide RNA, insertion sequence and the like were designed by referring to yeast genome database (www.yeastgenome.org/). Vector was constructed according to the method described in Nishida K. et al., Science 16:353(6305) (2016) doi: 10.1126/science.aaf8729. 1×gRNA vector corresponds to a vector in which the 5871st-5890th base sequence of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 15 is substituted by a complementary sequence of L86 or M4 target nucleotide sequence. 2×gRNA vector corresponds to a vector in which the 2638th-2657th base sequence of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 16 is substituted by a complementary sequence of a target nucleotide sequence of any of L86, L87, L88, L93 and R90, and the 6293rd-6312nd base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16 is substituted by a complementary sequence of a target nucleotide sequence of any of L87, R89, R90, R91 and R92. The above-mentioned target nucleotides are as follows.

(SEQ ID NO: 17) L86: CGAACAGAGTAAACCGAATC (SEQ ID NO: 18) L87: AGCACTATCAAGGCTAATAA (SEQ ID NO: 19) L88: GCGAACTTGAAGAATAACCA (SEQ ID NO: 20) R89: TCACCTAACTCAGACATTAT (SEQ ID NO: 21) R90: TTGCTGATTCTATTTACAAA (SEQ ID NO: 22) R91: GCAAACTCTATTCTTGGTGC (SEQ ID NO: 23) R92: ACCAGAGTATCATCCATGTC (SEQ ID NO: 24) L93: AATTCGGACACTTTAGGGTT (SEQ ID NO: 25) M4: AGATATTATACCTGGACCCC <Construction of Animal Cell Construct>

The pcDNA3.1 vector backbone and the respective sequences of CMV, PmCDA1, Cas9, H1, sgRNA are derived from a paper by Nishida et al. 2016. Each mutation was introduced by the PCR method. EF1, iRFP and mEGFP segments were generated by artificial gene synthesis. The segments were inserted and substituted by Gibson assembly or ligation reaction.

The sequences of the produced vector SY4 (H1_sgRNA, CMV_mEGFP) (reporter plasmid), vector SY45 (CMV_Cas9-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP) and vector SY45 (CMV_Cas9, EF1_iRFP) are respectively shown in SEQ ID NOs: 42-44. Vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A)-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 770th-772nd bases of sequence number 43 are substituted by gct. Vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A)-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 3260th-3262nd bases of sequence number 43 are substituted by gct. Vector SY45 (CMV_dCas9-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 770th-772nd bases of sequence number 43 are substituted by gct, and the 3260th-3262nd bases are substituted by gct. Vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A), EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 3724th-3726th bases of sequence number 44 are substituted by gct. Vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A), EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 6214th-6216th bases of sequence number 44 are substituted by gct. Vector SY45 (CMV_dCas9, EF1_iRFP) corresponds to one in which the 3724th-3726th bases of sequence number 44 are substituted by gct, and the 6214th-6216th bases are substituted by gct.

<Sequencing of DNA in Cell>

The iRFP-positive cells were separated by FACS, the genomic DNA and the introduced plasmid DNA were extracted, and the following samples were prepared and subjected to PCR under the following conditions to amplify the targeted site.

Sample Preparation:

gDNA 1 μL primer each 1 μL rTaq 10x Buffer 5 μL 25 mM MgCl₂ 3 μL 2 mM dNTP 5 μL rTaq (TOYOBO) 0.5 μL ddH₂O 33.5 μL total 50 μL PCR conditions: maintained at 94° C. for 2 min, a cycle of 94° C. for 45 sec, 55° C. for 45 sec and 72° C. for 1 min 30 sec was performed 33 times, and finally maintained at 72° C. for 5 min.

As amplification primers, the following SY157 and SY182 were used. The size of the amplification product was 1554 bp.

(SEQ ID NO: 47) SY157: TTCTGCTTGTCGGCCATGAT (SEQ ID NO: 48) SY182: AGGCAAGGCTTGACCGACAATT

The amplified product was cut out and purified using Fastgene. Then, TA cloning was performed with each purified product using pGEM-t easy vector, and Escherichia coli (JM109) was transformed with the vector. Then, 24 colonies were selected from each sample (with blue-white selection), and the plasmid DNA was purified by Mini prep (using Fastgene).

Then, the following sequencing mixture was prepared and outsourced to Genewiz to obtain sequence information.

each sample 2.5 μL primer SY157 (10 pmol/μL) 2.5 μL ddH₂O 10 μL total 15 μL

Finally, the obtained sequence information was aligned using Snapgene.

Example 1: Insertion of Insertion Sequence into Targeted Site Using dCas9-CDA or nCas9-CDA and Donor DNA

The budding yeast strain BY4741 was subjected to double transformation with plasmid vector 1525 (in SEQ ID NO: 4, 6036th base is g, 6037th base is c) or 1526 (in SEQ ID NO: 4, 6036th base is c, 6037th base is a), and 1059 (SEQ ID NO: 5) or 1149 (corresponds to vector in which the 3890th-3909th base sequence of sequence SEQ ID NO: 5 is substituted by TCCAATAACGGAATCCAACT (SEQ ID NO: 6)), and the strain was selected using auxotrophic medium (SD-Leu-Ura). The cells were cultured overnight in S-Leu-Ura 2% raffinose medium. They were diluted 1/32 in S-Leu-Ura 2% raffinose+0.02% galactose medium and cultured overnight at 30° C. They were spotted at 10-fold dilution in SD-Ura-Leu and SD-Ura-Leu+Canavanine plate. Two days later, Canavanine resistant colonies were subjected to sequence analysis. As a result, insertion of the mutation into the targeted site was confirmed (FIG. 2).

Example 2: Construction of Recombinant Evaluation System

Plasmid vector 1548 (SEQ ID NO: 7) was treated with SmaI/HpaI to produce a DNA fragment, BY4741 strain was transformed with the fragment and selected in SD-Ura medium. Sequence analysis confirmed integration into the Ade1 region.

Example 3: Demonstration Experiment of Recombination Reaction Using Recombinant Evaluation System

Either of the above-mentioned plasmid vectors was transformed into a demonstration experiment strain and selected using SD-Leu-Ura medium. The cells were cultured overnight in S-Leu-Ura 2% raffinose medium. They were diluted 1/32 with S-Leu 2% raffinose+0.02% (or 0.2%) galactose medium, cultured overnight at 30° C. resulting in 5 generations. For generating 20 generations, 1/32 dilution was repeated 4 times in total. They were spotted on SD-Leu plate at 10-fold dilution, and two days later, the number and color of the colonies were evaluated. As a result, colonies with restored Adel function and white appearance were frequently appeared, indicating that homologous recombination was induced at the targeted site by the method of the present invention (FIG. 4).

Example 4: Demonstration Experiment of Knock-in or Knock-Out by the Present Invention

The budding yeast strain BY4741 was double-transformed with the plasmid vector 1251 (SEQ ID NO: 8) and the 2×gRNA vector, and selected using an auxotrophic medium (SD-Leu-Ura). The cells were cultured overnight in S-Leu-Ura 2% raffinose medium. The cells were diluted 1/32 with S-Leu-Ura 2% raffinose+0.2% galactose medium and cultured overnight at 30° C. They were spotted at 10-fold dilution in SD-Ura-Leu and SD-Ura-Leu (+Canavanine) plates. Two days later, Canavanine resistance colony was subjected to sequence analysis. As a result, knock-in was realized with high efficiency by the method of the present invention (FIG. 6).

Example 5: Demonstration Experiment of Recombinant Reaction in Animal Cell

Using a single-stranded oligo DNA (70 bases in length) (Table 1) as a donor DNA, whether or not a recombination reaction occurs in animal cells (HEK293T cells) was verified. A schematic drawing of the experiment is shown in FIG. 7. Vector SY4 (H1_sgRNA, CMV_mEGFP) was used as reporter plasmid and vector SY45 (CMV_Cas9-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A)-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A)-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_dCas9-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_Cas9, EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A), EF1_iRFP), vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A), EF1_iRFP) or vector SY45 (CMV_dCas9, EF1_iRFP) was used as an effector plasmid. When Fw2 or Fw3 is used as a donor DNA and when homologous recombination is successfully performed, the initiation codon is generated in the sequence encoding EGFP, resulting in the expression of EGFP. Fw1 is a donor DNA designed to prevent occurrence of an initiation codon in a sequence encoding EGFP even when homologous recombination occurs, and was used as a negative control. Fw3 is a homologous aim of Fw2 in which one base is substituted (c→g), and was used to verify whether homologous recombination occurs even when the homology arm is not completely homologous to the adjacent region of the targeted site and whether mutations at a plurality of different locations can be introduced.

The results are shown in FIG. 8. It was shown that when nCas9-pmCDA1 was used, the homologous recombination efficiency was higher than when nCas9 was used, and the homologous recombination efficiency was equal to or higher than that when Cas9 was used. In addition, significant homologous recombination was observed even when dCas9-pmCDA1 was used. There was no significant difference in the homologous recombination rate between when Fw2 was used as the donor DNA and when Fw3 was used as the donor DNA.

Example 6: Verification of Influence of Base Number of Donor DNA, and Kind of Complementary Strand (Forward (Fw) or Reverse (Rv)) on Homologous Recombination Reaction

Using a single-stranded oligo DNA (50 bases in length) (Table 1) as a donor DNA, whether or not a recombination reaction occurs in animal cells (HEK293T cells) was verified. A schematic drawing of the experiment is shown in FIG. 9. Vector SY4 (H1_sgRNA, CMV_mEGFP) was used as a reporter plasmid and vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A))-PmCDA1, EF1_iRFP) or vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A))-PmCDA1 was used as an effector plasmid.

The results are shown in FIG. 10. It was shown that homologous recombination is possible even with a single-stranded oligo DNA having 50 bases in length, homologous recombination is possible with both complementary strands Fw and Rv, and that homologous recombination is possible with both versions of nCas9 of nCas9 (D10A) and nCas9 (H840A).

Example 7: Verification of Homology Arm of Donor DNA

Using a donor DNA having a homology arm for a different homologous region (Table 1), variation in the efficiency of homologous recombination reaction due to homologous region was verified. A schematic drawing of the experiment is shown in FIG. 11. Vector SY4 (H1_sgRNA, CMV_mEGFP) was used as a reporter plasmid and vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(D10A))-PmCDA1, EF1 _iRFP) or vector SY45 (CMV_nCas9(H840A))-PmCDA1 was used as an effector plasmid.

The results are shown in FIG. 12. It was shown that the efficiency of homologous recombination is improved by designing donor DNA such that when the site where a nick is generated or the deaminase site of PmCDA1 in the homologous region is considered as the center, the homology arm on the 3′-side of the region would be longer than the homology arm on the 5′-side.

Example 8: Verification of Modification of DNA of Mammalian Cell

Using the same gRNA and donor DNA as in the experiment using Fw2 in Example 5, modification of DNA was verified. The results are shown in the following Table 2. It was demonstrated that when nCas9(D10A)-PmCDA1 and nCas9(H840A)-PmCDA1 were used, the occurrence of Indel, a by-product, is remarkably suppressed compared to the use of Cas9, that is, cytotoxicity is reduced. The term “DNA” used in this Example includes both genomic DNA and plasmid DNA.

TABLE 2 SEQ vector success/failure Indel Substitution nCas9 (D10A) 23/24 0/23 1/23 Cas9 22/24 5/22 0/22 nCas9 (D10A)-CDA1 23/24 1/23 0/23 nCas9 (H840A)-CDA1 22/24 0/22 3/22

-   -   Substitution in this study shows base substitution seen in the         target sequence of gRNA.     -   Mutation such as base substitution C→T assumed to have         involvement in the action of CDA1 is not found.

From the above, when nCas9-CDA is used, the efficiency of homologous recombination is at least as high as that using Cas9, and it avoids generating Indel as a by-product and high cytotoxicity that occurs when using Cas9. Therefore, a method using nCas9-CDA can be more beneficial and useful than the conventional method. Furthermore, nCas9-CDA can achieve higher efficiency than nCas9 for the purpose of avoiding the above-mentioned problem that occurs when using Cas9.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-059073 filed in Japan (filing date: Mar. 26, 2018), the contents of which are incorporated in full herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention provides a novel DNA modification technique using a nucleic acid base converting enzyme such as deaminase and the like or DNA glycosylase, wherein the technique is not limited by the type of mutation that can be introduced or the site of mutation, can switch the direction and combination of genes, and can knock-in gene segments. Since the DNA modification technique of the present invention can modify the targeted site without cleaving the double-stranded DNA, unexpected rearrangement and toxicity accompanying the cleavage are suppressed, and the targeted site can be modified much more efficiently compared to the conventional methods, it is extremely useful. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for modifying a targeted site of a double-stranded DNA of a cell, comprising a step of bringing a complex in which a nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module that specifically binds to a selected target nucleotide sequence in a double-stranded DNA and a nucleic acid base converting enzyme or DNA glycosylase are linked, and a donor DNA containing an insertion sequence into contact with said double-stranded DNA, to substitute the targeted site with the insertion sequence, or to insert the insertion sequence into said targeted site, without cleaving at least one strand of said double-stranded DNA in the targeted site.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the donor DNA comprises a sequence homologous to a region adjacent to the targeted site.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is selected from the group consisting of a CRISPR-Cas system in which at least one DNA cleavage ability of Cas effector protein is inactivated, a zinc finger motif, a TAL effector and a PPR motif, wherein the Cas effector protein is Cas9 or Cpf1.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is a CRISPR-Cas system in which only one of the two DNA cleavage abilities of the Cas effector protein is inactivated.
 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the nucleic acid sequence-recognizing module is a CRISPR-Cas system in which both DNA cleavage abilities of the Cas effector protein are inactivated.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid base converting enzyme is a deaminase.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the deaminase is cytidine deaminase.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the cytidine deaminase is PmCDA1.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the double-stranded DNA is contacted with the complex by introducing a nucleic acid encoding the complex into the cell.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cell is a prokaryotic cell or a eukaryotic cell.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the cell is a microbial cell.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the cell is a plant cell, an insect cell or an animal cell.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the animal cell is a vertebrate cell.
 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the vertebrate cell is a mammalian cell. 